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Earlier in February I posted how I attended Dr. Travis Howell’s Perfect Storm Workshop. Well the next week, I shadowed Dr. Travis in his off, and it was such a great experience. His office is located in Bettendorf, and he is a Pediatric Chiropractor. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to shadow him right after his workshop, since I was able to see patients come in after they attended it, as well.

I had the opportunity to see two different families come in for their initial visits and see how Dr. Travis runs through his scans and questions. From what I’ve seen while shadowing, things can be a little more chaotic (but a good chaotic in my mind) when working with children. I love seeing how practicing chiropractors work with children and communicate effectively with the mothers/fathers. The room where the scans take place has a very relaxed feeling, with toys and a couch. Once the scans were completed Dr. Travis reviews the information from the scans and from the paperwork. With the two families I observed who had their initial consult, the questions ranged from about pregnancy to the birth process and what is being observed now.

There was another child who came in for his first adjustment with Dr. Travis as well while I was there. This child had been diagnosed with autism, and his mother had attended the workshop as well. Dr. Travis talked to me about working with children with autism and what has worked for him to make them feel more comfortable in his office. For instance, asking the parents if there is something the child really likes so that he can have it in his office. He told me about the first child with autism he adjusted and how the boy really liked Woody from “Toy Story.” So he made sure he had one in his office, and whenever the child would come in he knew where to go get the Woody character.

Dr. Travis’ office has an open layout for his office, other then the exam room. I liked that feeling for a family office so that children can continue to play while their parents are getting adjusted. Everything about the office seemed very calming and open.

Most mornings while I’m getting ready, I’ll turn on a podcast, normally from “The Chiropractic Philanthropist.” I really like the way Dr. Ed Osburn approaches the podcast/interview and the people he has on (which consist of chiropractors and other successful people).

This week I listened to a podcast where he interviewed Dr. Lance von Stade, who spoke about the Adjusting Ninjas and his experience of what lead him to become a chiropractor. Dr. Lance is nine months out of chiropractic school and doing amazing things in the field.

Dr. Ed asked Dr. Lance for his advice for students on chiropractic school, and his response really resonated with me. He said that what he hears students say is, “How do I make chiropractic school easier?” Dr. Lance went on to say that he immediately thinks of a quote from Bruce Lee: “I don’t pray for an easy life. I pray for the strength to endure a difficult life.”

I really like this quote because, by all means, chiropractic school isn’t easy. But as a family, we all get through this together. Dr. Lance also brought up that if you think chiropractic school is easy, then you might find yourself struggling after graduation.

Another thing that really stuck out during the interview to me was that chiropractic school is like a petri dish and that you will never leave the person you came in as. I love this because I can already, in one year, see the transformation in my views.

I’ve heard Dr. Ed say this before — and he said it again during this podcast — but “embrace the suck.” Sometimes we get caught up in thinking that we are the only ones that fail, but everyone has some sort of failures in life. They just need to learn from it and move forward. I think in chiropractic school that’s a good message, because most likely everything won’t go as planned. Whether it be because of time management, family situations or plain old procrastination, learn from it and just do better next time!

My favorite question that Dr. Ed always asks at the end of the interview is, “What would you tell your younger self, right out of school?” Dr. Lance’s response was to listen. He elaborated more by explaining that aside from listening to your patients, you should listen to your own body and to be aware of it. I think that’s a great message, because too often, we are fully engaged in a conversation with the listening aspect, and people (including myself) are more focused on how they will respond to the statement of the other person. Whereas, sometimes we just need to listen and not respond. My mom is probably the best person who calls me out on this.

If you are looking for a motivational podcast, I highly recommend checking out “The Chiropractic Philanthropist”!

I’ve said it probably in all my previous blogs, but there are so many clubs on campus … including the Adjusting Ninjas!

I believe they started up last trimester, but I just started attending a few club hours this trimester. I saw a poster about a seminar that was going to happen in Davenport in December, so I thought I would check out the club before signing up for the seminar. And I had also heard Dr. Brett Jones on one of podcasts I listen to regularly and figured it was time that I looked further into this club!

The club normally meets around 6 a.m., and if you saw my previous posts, you know I’m a morning person. We start out with a warm up that involves some light jogging, stretching and yoga moves. From there we move into one of the technique rooms on campus so that we can get some hands-on experience. For me, being in a lower trimester it can be a little intimidating not knowing exactly what I am palpating for, but it’s always good experience.

One of the goals of the club is to work on muscle memory, so we focus on moving through motions and then pick up speed. Once we have worked on the motions, we start palpations. And if we find something, we can take a step back and go through the movements as if we were adjusting them.

I decided not to attend the seminar this time, but I’m hoping that they’ll be back while I’m still at Palmer so that I can attend another time. Things have been a little busy with my current class schedule and labs, so I wanted to make sure I focus on those before attending a seminar this trimester.

March is coming up quickly, and that will mark one full year in the books at Palmer! In one year things have changed dramatically–for the best! I’m not actually sure where all the time has gone, because I feel like I was just taking the first round of exams in first trimester (although, I’m so happy that’s over with).

If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know that I worked in the corporate world before making a leap and changing the direction of my life. For those who are also thinking of doing the same thing, let me tell you, the first trimester can be a little rocky. Getting back in the groove of being in school and not having a science background was difficult, but if you’re willing to put in the time (which will probably be more time than your classmates have to), it will all be worth it!

Last night I was at the sorority house and was talking to one of the girls whom I started with, and she agreed that this first year has flown by. Many people have already told me that their time at Palmer flew by, but when you are in the middle of it, sometimes it is a little overwhelming. But this is just like anything else, as long as you take it one day at a time, pretty soon you’ll be one year in and then, in no time, graduating.

In the past two weeks I’ve also talked to some previous co-workers and asked them how things are going at work. There responses were all pretty similar, that nothing had changed. As much as I miss those paychecks, I’m so happy I’m no longer working at those jobs and chose a career in chiropractic and Palmer!

I look forward to seeing what the next year at Palmer has in store for me!

Earlier this month at the sorority house, we had our regular Intergreek Philosophy Night, which happens every trimester. This trimester we had such a great turnout! The house was packed, with every seat was full! There were also many amazing speakers from all of the Greek houses. The speakers consisted of individuals from 2nd trimester to 10th trimester. I love hearing people’s views on chiropractic philosophy, whether it aligns with mine or not.

One of the speakers talked about explaining chiropractic to those who may not have ever had chiropractic care or to people who think chiropractic is just about “cracking backs.”

He described a specific situation that happened to him and a friend at a bar where someone asked them what they did. They told the man that they were students at Palmer and the man asked them what chiropractic was. The friend went on to explain chiropractic in more details with the nervous system. Obviously, the man looked confused, so the speaker said that he started explaining chiropractic with the following three ideas: structure, function and quality of life. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how to explain chiropractic to people (mainly through the safety-pin explanation, which is awesome) but have never heard people talk about including quality of life.

Over the winter break, my family and I talked my grandma into seeing a chiropractor after she wasn’t seeing results from her medical doctor. I took her to her first appointment, and my grandma was very set on asking everyone if they could fix her. Now looking back on how the chiropractor interacted with my grandma, she was focusing more on improving her quality of life from where she was in a more round-about way. I’ve been able to job shadow a few chiropractors in the past, but sitting there with my grandma was a very different view on things.

I look forward to next trimesters Intergreek Philosophy Night to hear more amazing speakers talk about their chiropractic philosophy.

If you are a prospective student there is one thing you need to know about the fall trimester–it seems like it lasts forever! With Thanksgiving break, then the Christmas break and MLK Day off, it seems like it will never end, even though it is the same amount of time as the other trimesters. Since December, we have had a very mild winter, in my opinion coming from Wisconsin. Only in the past two weeks we have had snow and colder days, which seem to make the time slow down, too.

Although it seems like this trimester will never end, there are a few great things with the fall trimester: you have more time to keep up with classes and study! For example, we had off for Martin Luther King Day Jr. Day, and that was extremely helpful with a Spinal Anatomy exam the same week. Knowing there is full day to study and not having to worry about class was great.

There is now less then a month until left until finals! In most of the classes we have now moved on to the final material, so I finally feel like there is some light at the end of this trimester tunnel. On another note, after this trimester, I have been at Palmer for a full year!

The SICA auction took place early in December, and I was so excited with everything there was to bid on. But my main goal was to bid on the ticket to Cal Jam … which I WON! Within my family, it’s a long-running joke to say that you won something that you actually paid for in an auction. 🙂

Anyways, I have been listening to the Chiropractic Philanthropist podcast for a few months now, and it’s by far one of my favorite podcasts. One day he interviewed Billy DeMoss, and I knew that I needed to figure out a way to get to Cal Jam in March. It just so happened that about a week after listening to that podcast, the list of what would be auctioned off was posted to our Facebook page. And to my surprise, they were auctioning off a ticket!

My brother attended the event with me, because he was looking to bid on some Green Books. Dr. Hynes (also known as He Hynes) was the auctioneer, and he was hilarious! He brought a ton of jokes and definitely was the best person for the job. There was a book written by B.J. Palmer from his printing press that had never been opened. The book went for over $250! It was one of the most exciting items that was bid on.

I walked home with my ticket to Cal Jam, a book and some posters. My brother ended up winning two books.

I’m so excited for the event in March. I haven’t figured out how I’m getting there or where I’m staying yet, but I’m hoping it will all fall into place!

My brother (Michael) and his girlfriend (Sara, on the left) and myself at the dance.

In December we had the Palmer holiday party, but it’s better known as Palmer Prom. A few of the girls in the sorority (and their dates) met up at the house first before heading to the party. It was nice to go out as a group!

Since this was my first year attending, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When we got there, I was surprised by how many people were already there. I met up with Callie, Madison, Ruth, Katie and Taylor, who are some of the girls in my class. There were a lot of appetizers, and they were all amazing.

The event was downtown and there was a band playing cover songs. The band was great, and they played some of my favorite cover songs. I was surprised how full the dance floor was all night and by the amount of people who came. It was so nice to get dressed up, go out and relax.

Like normal, when you are having so much fun, the night flew by! Needless to say, the next day my feet were super sore from all the dancing.

I can’t wait for next years Palmer Prom!

-Jen

Picture: My brother (Michael) and his girlfriend (Sara) and myself at the dance

The day after my birthday, my brother had his white coat ceremony, which is his official welcoming into the clinic as a practicing student intern.

It was nice that our parents were able to come down for it and celebrate this big day for him, as well as my birthday! Sometimes when you are in the trenches of all the exams, it’s hard to keep your eye on the target. It was so exciting to see him move on to the next step. Since Mike can’t work on family in the clinic, I’ll need to find another intern, but I’m sure he’ll do great!

The time sure does fly by at Palmer, even though some days it doesn’t feel like it. I’m sure Mike feels like he has been in school forever since he came straight from his undergrad program instead of working for a few years like me.

Class 171 is an average size class, and the ceremony took about an hour. Just over a year left for them! I’m looking forward to the day I have my white coat ceremony!

The ceremony took place on a Friday afternoon, and then after we did a little shopping around Davenport. In the evening we went out to eat at a German restaurant in Moline called Bierstube. The food was delicious, and they had some amazing desserts, which included Nutella!

November started a new trimester, and, boy, did it get busy quickly! The second Friday of the month was Spizz Night. Normally, it’s the first weekend with the prospective student event but for some reason it was changed this trimester.

Spizz Night is one of my favorite nights of the trimester because I love hearing the practicing D.C.s speak about their experiences. This trimester Dr. Frank Lombardozzi, Dr. Mark Mouw and Dr. Nate Hinkeldey all spoke.

I started the night out helping at the booth for the sorority. A lot of first-year students stop by to see the different clubs on campus and for the free food (normally tacos). Things can be very hectic the first trimester because of all the events/clubs going on so this gives the sorority another chance to talk about the different professional events that happen.

Dr. Frank Lombardozzi and Dr. Mark Mouw spoke together, and it was very interesting to hear their story. Especially Dr. Lombardozzi’s story about when he started his business thinking that patients would just show up. Instead he realized he needed to get his name out there and meet people. This has been something I’ve been hearing a lot lately, that in the beginning you will need to take the time and go speak and different groups or market yourself. I haven’t decided exactly what my plan is for after school, but it’s good to hear others’ achievements and failures so that I know what to repeat and not repeat!

Dr. Nate Hinkeldey started his presentation with BJ Palmer’s definition of Spizzerinctum (Spizz)! Which, before attending the prospective student event, I had never heard of this word. B.J. Palmer referred to it as “if a chiropractor is loaded with Spizzerinctum, his adjustments could make a bald man grow hair like a collie dog! You have no chiropractic practice without Spizzerinctum, everything else is just mechanics. Great chiropractors are loaded with Spizz, their magnetic and abundant energy flows through every cell of their being.” Or in simpler terms, enthusiasm for chiropractic!

Dr. Hinkeldey shared his experience working with M.D.s while working with his patients. His enthusiasm around chiropractic to fight for his patients’ well being showed tremendously during his speech, with working at the VA and within his own practice.

Spizz Night is always an exciting night and is always worth attending! There are also lots of giveaways throughout the night, for instance this Spizz Night there was student membership to the ICA, Green Books and gift cards to the Bookstore!